The Misadventures of Karou Mogami
by MadHatta21
Summary: Because no one found more trouble than her. Drabbles/Oneshots etc. that sort of go along with The Promise of Tommorrow
1. Chapter 1

The Misadventures of Karou Mogami

A day in training

"Neh~ Mogami-chan if you keep using the same approach you'll die."

I twitched visibly as Okita Souji gave me a wolfish grin. My gaze flickered briefly over to Kondou-san and Heisuke who were watching the match curiously.

I took a deep breath, pulling myself back up onto my feet and holding my bamboo sword at the ready. I had never once beaten Okita in a sparring match, but I was convinced that today would be the day.  
I slid into a stance I hadn't used before, prepared to face Okita-san once again. I saw a flash of curiosity in his eyes as he prepared to evade my attacks.

I charged, bringing the sword down towards his head and then spinning on my heel and pulling back on the sword the instant before contact. The move put me on Okita's left side, facing the opposite wall. In one swift fluid motion I brought the sword down, intending to smack the back of his left knee. Before I even knew what had happened, I was flat on my ass with Okita's sword at my throat and the frayed remains of my own bamboo sword clattered to the ground next to me.

I stared at the broken sword in astonishment, and then realized that a hit to my body would have likely broken a bone or two.

"CHEEE!" I backed away, "A hit like that could've lobbed my head off!"

Okita leaned down, bamboo sword still dangerously close to my throat, "I told you didn't I? If you don't take this seriously you might die."


	2. Chapter 2

Being a part of the Roshigumi was something to be proud of. We were samurai, and we held our heads high with that knowledge.

Every one of us was aware of where the line was drawn between honor and arrogance. Well all of us except for Commander Serizawa.

From the moment we laid eyes on him we knew what sort of person he was. Serizawa threw his power around almost as often as he unsheathed his sword.

He spoke of honor. He spoke of humility. But only when he was forcing someone else to bow at his feet.

As new arrivals in Kyoto, we were forced to rely on Serizawa for accommodations. He was the only one in the capital who was willing to take in 'a useless bunch of stray mutts'.

Of course none of us were fond of the way he treated Kondou-san, but Souji, Souji was more furious than any of us. He had threatened the night before to kill Serizawa. The fool had laughed it off of course, insisting that Okita was nothing more than a stupid puppy and thus presented no challenge.

I'd been forced to bite back my own fury and also to prevent Okita from acting on his. I had quickly interjected in the quickly escalating argument, convincing Serizawa that Souji was only kidding.

With the added comments of agreement from Sano and Shin the commander seemed to relax, going back to his sake and laughing loudly.

My comrades and I remained quiet as Souji stormed out into the night.

Things hadn't gotten much better this morning, and so far I had successfully managed to avoid Serizawa's wrath altogether. (This was mostly due to the fact that I spent most of my free time on the opposite side of the residence polishing up my techniques.)

Souji hadn't spoken to me all day, and although Heisuke insisted that the read head couldn't stay angry forever, I had a feeling that I should at least attempt to apologize.

So my search for Souji began.

As I rounded a corner, lost in thought about what I should say, I found myself knocked rather roughly to the ground.

I shot to my feet, ready to demand an apology, only to find myself face to face with Serizawa himself.

I held my head high, like I had seen Toshi-sama do on many occasions and said, "I believe social protocol dictates that one should apologize when he knocks someone down."

Serizawa laughed dangerously, "You wanna run that by me again mutt?"

I made a show of casually brushing myself off, "Someone in your position should be setting an example for the rest of us, not making us look like hooligans with his lack of manners."

"WHY YOU!"

Serizawa snatched me up by the front of my kimono, seething in my face as he brought his fist down across my cheek.

I didn't bother to even flinch, never moving.

Serizawa laughed, "Look at you, too pathetic to even dodge my fist. You're nothing more than trash after all."

"She didn't dodge because she didn't say anything wrong," the sliding of a shoji revealed the demon of the Roshigumi himself.

Hijikata leveled Serizawa with a fierce-some glare, "And even if she had it wouldn't be your place to punish her. Mogami is under my command and therefore is my responsibility. In the future you will do well to remember that."

I felt the tension snap like a twig as Serizawa tossed me aside and stormed passed Toshi.

The demon commander turned his glare on me, "What the hell were you thinking?! You should have just let it slide-"

I wiped some blood out of the corner of my mouth, my grin causing Toshi to pause in his lecture.

"I was following your example Hijikata-san."

His eyes seemed to soften ever so slightly as he realized he had pulled a similar stunt over Serizawa's frequent trips to the red-light district.

Toshi sighed, "Just stay away from Serizawa from now on. It's a pain in my ass to have to deal with his temper."

I nodded, resisting the urge to laugh as Toshi went back to his quarters.

I rushed off once again, in search of Souji.


End file.
